Pennsylvania Dutch

The Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of German-speaking immigrants in the American colony of Pennsylvania who settled there during the 17th and 18th centuries. The name "Dutch" does not signify that the Pennsylvania Dutch are from the Netherlands; instead, it is a corruption of their Deitsch dialect of the Deutsch (German) language. Many German speakers settled in the rural areas of the state, and most of them affiliated with the Lutheran church, while a few belonged to the Amish or the Mennonites. The Pennsylvania Dutch have significant populations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia in the United States and in Ontario in Canada. They speak both the English language (as a lingua franca) and their own Deitsch language.